Hooking needle

ABSTRACT

THIS DISCLOSURE DESCRIBES A HOOKING NEEDLE WHICH INCLUDES AN ELONGATED MEMBER AND A NEEDLE WITH A PASSAGEWAY THERETHROUGH MOUNTED ON THE ELONGATED MEMBER. A SHUTTLE IS MOUNTED FOR RECIPROCATING MOVEMENT ON THE ELONGATED MEMBER. AN ELONGATED PLUNGER IS MOUNTED ON THE SHUTTLE FOR MOVEMENT WITH THE SHUTTLE AND EXTENDS THROUGH THE PASSAGEWAY OF THE NEEDLE. GUIDE MEANS ARE MOUNTED ON THE ELONGATED MEMBER TO GUIDE THE RECIPROCATING MOVEMENT OF THE TONGUE MEMBER.   D R A W I N G

Feb 6, 1973 1, J` MQNTELL ET Al. 3,714,915

HOOKING NEEDLE Filed March 29, 19?' 1 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb 6, 1973 .1. J. MONTELL ET AL 3,714,915

HOOKING NEEDLE Filed M'arch 29, 1971 2 sheets-sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,714,915 HOOKING NEEDLE Joseph J. Montell, South Laguna, and George L. Houghton, Santa Ana, Calif., assignors to Rug Crafters, Santa Ana, Calif. Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 722,349, Apr. 18, 1968. This application Mar. 29, 1971, Ser. No. 128,699

Int. Cl. Dc 15/06 U.S. Cl. 112-80 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure describes a hooking needle which includes an elongated member and a needle with a passageway therethrough mounted on the elongated member. A shuttle is mounted for reciprocating movement on the elongated member. An elongated plunger is mounted on the shuttle for movement with the shuttle and extends through the passageway of the needle. Guide means are mounted on the elongated member to guide the reciprocating movement of the tongue member.

REFERENCE TO COPENDING APPLICATION This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 722,349, led Apr. 18, 1968, now abandoned, entitled Hooking Needle.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE As is well known, hooking needles are used to make rugs, tapestries and similar articles. The typical hooking needle includes a needle, a reciprocable shuttle and a plunger mounted on the shuttle for movement therewith. The plunger projects through a passageway in the needle. The needle can be threaded by inserting yarn through a yarn passageway in the needle.

In operation, the needle is forced through a base fabric and then the shuttle is moved forward or toward the fabric while the needle is withdrawn from the fabric. This reciprocating motion is repeated to force the yarn through the fabric in loop form to produce the desired threaded construction.

In the hooking operation it is necessary that the plunger be movable forwardly of the needle and to accomplish this, it is common practice to form a passageway through the needle through which the plunger can project. The plunger is typically constructed of a relatively resilient metal and is curved so that at least the forward portion thereof engages the upper surface of the passageway through the needle. This engagement between the wall surface of the passageway and the plunger to some extent tends to maintain the elongated plunger in proper alignment during reciprocation thereof. However, after repeated usage, the resilient qualities of the plunger are inherently reduced so that the wall surface and the plunger may no longer engage. At this point the plunger can move laterally relative to the needle and cause malfunctioning of the hooking needle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a hooking needle in which the problem experienced heretofore with lateral misalignment of the plunger is eliminated. The present invention teaches that such misalignment can be eliminated by constructing a guide for the plunger which prevents significant lateral movement of the plunger. The guide is most effective if it extends longitudinally of the plunger and can slidably engage the lateral or longitudi- A hooking needle constructed in accordance with this invention may include an elongated member and a needle mounted on the elongated member. The needle has a fabric penetrating portion and a plunger receiving passageway extends through the needle. An elongated plunger or tongue member is mounted on a shuttle and the shuttle in turn is mounted for reciprocation on the elongated member toward and away from the needle. The plunger extends through the plunger receiving passageway of the needle and the guide is mounted on the elongated member.

Preferably the guide is constructed integrally with the needle and forms a base portion thereof. According to a preferred form of the invention, the needle includes opposed wall portions which defines the plunger receiving passageway. The opposed wall portions are spaced so that they lie closely adjacent the lateral edges of the plunger and form the guide therefor. Preferably these wall portions are generally parallel.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the needle includes a base, Wall means cooperating with the base to define an open ended enclosure, and a partition dividing the open ended enclosure into a yarn receiving passage and the plunger receiving passage. With this construction, the partition provides a separate passage for the plunger and the yarn so that movement of the yarn through the needle is not hindered by the plunger. This materially facilitates the hooking operation.

The present invention also provides locator means on the elongated member and the base which cooperate to orient the needle relative to the elongated member.

According to a preferred practice of the invention, the locator means includes integral projections and cooperating recesses on the base and elongated member for receiving the projections to thereby x the position of the needle relative to the elongated member.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a hooking needle with greater versatility so that the same hooking needle can be used for different sizes of yarn and for different lengths of stitch. To permit the same hooking needle to be used with diterent sizes of yarn, the needle is easily removable and can be replaced by another needle of an appropriate size for the desired yarn size. This enables the same hooking needle to be used for relatively ine work such as embroidery or heavier work such as rugs. As the needle is removable by the user, the provision of the locator means to orient the new needle on the elongated member is of particular importance.

The width of the plunger must be correlated to the yarn diameter and needle size. Accordingly, the plunger is removably mounted on the shuttle. To permit adjusting the loop length, the longitudinal position of the plunger on the shuttle is adjustable.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a wire hoop of iiat wire is welded to a relatively long leg portion of the shuttle. The wire hoop stops the action of the hooking needle against the fabric. The at wire facilitates the Welding operation.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation together with further features and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hooking needle constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention with the advanced position of the shuttle and plunger being illustrated in dashed lines.

FIG. 2 is a slightly enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

iFIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view partially in section illustrating the operation of the hooking needle.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a second embodiment of hooking needle constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken Igenerally along line 7-7 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken generally along line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the tip of the plunger.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Refering to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, reference numeral 11 designates a hooking needle constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. Generally, the hooking needle 11 includes an elongated shank or base member 13, a handle 15, a shuttle 17 mounted for reciprocation on the shank, a tongue or plunger 19 mounted on the shuttle, and a needle 21. In the embodiment illustrated, the shank 13 is in the form of an elongated iat bar or strip of metal which forms, in effect, a base on which the various other elements of the hooking needle are mounted. The shank 13 is relatively rigid and the handle 15 is suitably secured to one end of the shank.

The shuttle 17 is a metal member which includes a short leg portion 23 and a long leg portion 25 interconnected by a web portion 27. Each of the leg portions 23 and 25 has an aperture therethrough for slidably receiving the shank 13 and the leg portion 25 is sufficiently long to facilitate manual gripping thereof. The web 27 is spaced from the shank 13 and generally parallel thereto.

The plunger 19 is an elongated metal member preferably constructed of spring steel so as to be quite resilient. The plun-ger 19 has lateral or longitudinal edges 28 and 28a ('FIG. 2) and includes a mounting portion 29 having an elongated slot 31 therein. A fastener 33 extends through the slot 31 and removably clamps the mounting portion 29 to the web portion 27 of the shuttle 17. The elongated slot 31 and the removable fastener 33 permits adjusting of the longitudinal position of the plunger 19 relative to the shuttle 17. The web portion 27 is spaced sufliciently from the shank 13 so that the fastener 31 does not interfere with the sliding movement of the shuttle. The plunger 19 curves toward the shank 13 as it extends from the web portion 27 toward a central region of the plunger and then curves away from the shank as its extends from the central portion thereof toward the tip 34 of the plunger. The tip 34 engages the needle 21 in the retracted position of the shuttle as shown in FIG. 3.

A wire hoop 35 is rigidly mounted on the leg portions 23 and 25 for movement with the shuttle 17. The wire hoop 35 includes two arm sections 37 each of which is rigidly mounted on both of the leg portions 23 and 25 and projects therefrom toward the needle 21 in generally the same plane as the shank 13. A U or channel section 39 is formed integrally with the arm sections 35 at the ends of the arms adjacent the needle 21. The U section 39 extends out of the plane of the shank 13 and partially surrounds the plunger 19.

The shuttle 17 and the elements affixed thereto are reciprocable on the shank 13 between a forward position which is defined by the engagement of the leg portion 25 with the needle 21 and a rearward position which is dened by the engagement of the leg portions 23 with an adjustable stop 41. In the embodiment illustrated, the

, stop 41 is in the form of a small angle member having a slot 43 therein. A screw 45 passes through the slot 43 and mounts the stop 41 on the shank 13 adjacent the handle 15. The slot 43 permits adjustment of the longitudinal position of the stop 41 relative to the shank 13.

The needle 21 includes a fabric penetrating portion 47 and a guide section 49 which are integrally constructed of sheet metal. The penetrating portion 47 terminates in a sharp point 51 and has a yarn passageway 53 extending therethrough. An intermediate panel or partition 55 is suitably secured to the sheet metal as by brazing and separates .the passageway 53 from a plunger passageway 61. The sheet material of the penetrating portion 47 forwardly of the guide section 49 overhangs the opposed edges of the panel 55 as shown in FIG. 5 to guide the tip 34 of the plunger 19.

The guide section 49 includes spaced parallel wall sections 57 and 59 defining .the plunger passageway 61 through which the plunger 19 projects. The wall sections 57 and 59 are preferably perpendicular to the shank 13 and the regions of the section 49 intermediate the wall sections 57 and 59 and the shank 13 are flared outwardly as shown in FIG. 2 and terminate in a base 63, which is secured to a bar or base member 64 as by brazing. The wall sections 57 and 59 are generally parallel and spaced so as to be in sliding contact with the lateral edges 28, 28a of the plunger 19. Thus, the wall sections 57 and 59 form a guide or tunnel for restraining the tongue 19 against lateral movement which would adversely influence the hooking operation. The base 64 is removably axed to the shank 13 by a screw 65 and proper orientation of the needle 21 relative to the shank 13 can be maintained by locator pins or locator elements 67 connected to the shank 13 and projecting into corresponding recesses in the bar 64.

To operate the hooking needle 11, yarn 68 is threaded through the yarn passageway 53 as shown in FIG. 4. With the shuttle 17 in the up or retracted position, the fabric penetrating portion 47 of the needle 21 is inserted through fabric layer 69 as shown in FIG. 4 until the shank 13 engages the fabric. This forces the yarn 68 through the fabric 69. The hooking operation isthen conventionally accomplished by moving the shuttle 19 downwardly or forwardly thus engaging the yarn and holding it into a loop while simultaneously retracting the fabric penetrating portion 47 upwardly from the fabric 69 until the leg portion 25 of the shuttle engages the needle 21 as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1. At this point the needle is withdrawn from the fabric. By rapidly manually repeating this action, the hooking operation progresses with the reciprocating motion of the plunger 19 being carefully guided by the wall sections 57 and 59.

FIGS. 6-9 show a hooking needle 11a which is identical to the hooking needle 11 except to the extent specitically shown or described herein. Portions of the hooking needle 11a which are identical to the hooking needle 11 are designated by corresponding reference numerals followed by the letter a except as otherwise noted.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 6-9, the handle 15a is shaped somewhat dilferently from the handle 15 (FIG. 1) and the stop 41a is formed integrally with the base member 13a by deforming a region of the metal of the base member downwardly out of the plane of the base member. The stop 41a cooperates with the leg portion 23a to limit the rearward movement of the shuttle 17a.

The shuttle 17a is mounted on the base member 13a as described hereinabove with reference to the hooking needle 11. The plunger 19a is removably mounted on the web portion 27a by a screw 33a which projects through a longitudinally extending slot 31a as described with reference to the hooking needle 11. The plunger 19a has an arcuate concave tip 34a (FIG. 9).

The hoop 35a is constructed of flat metal wire. The hoop 35a has a pair of end portions 71 (only one being shown in FIG. 6) which are turned toward the web portion 27a. The end portions 71 are spot welded to the relatively long leg portion 25a and the wire hoop 35a is not directly ailixed to the relatively short leg portion 23a as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5. This eiects n savings in material and the fiatness of the wire facilitates the spot welding.

The needle 21a has wall means including wall sections 57a and 59a which cooperate with a base 64a to define an open ended enclosure with the configuration of the enclosure in cross section (FIG. 7) being somewhat different from the configuration of the cross section of the needle 27 (FIG. 2). The wall means which includes the wall sections 57a and 59a is suitably secured to the base 64a as by spot welding. The open ended enclosure is divided into a yarn receiving passageway 53a and a plunger receiving passageway 61a by a partition or blade 55a which is retained in inwardly opening ribs or grooves 73 (FIG. 7) of the wall sections 57a and 59a, respectively. r[he plunger 19a has longitudinal edges 28 which are closely adjacent the wall sections 57a and 59a and are guided thereby during reciprocation of the plunger. The entire wall means is preferably constructed of stainless steel and is highly polished. Highly polished stainless steel is preferred to chrome plating because plating requires relatively large tolerances and produces a surface having a higher coefficient of friction than polished stainless.

The position of the needle 21a relative to the elongated member 13a is fixed by a pair of longitudinally spaced locator elements or dowels 67a formed in the base 64a and received in corresponding apertures 75 of the elongated member 13a. The locator elements 67a are formed integrally with the base 64 by a suitable metal forming process which coins or otherwise moves metal from the upper regions of the base 64a downwardly to form the locator element 67a. Such movement of metal results in upwardly opening notches 77 in the base member 64a. The needle 21a is removably attached to the elongated member 13a in the position established by the locator elements 77a and the recesses 75 by a screw 65a which is intermediate the locator elements.

The hooking needle 11a can be operated in the same manner described hereinabove with reference to the hooking needle 11. The needle 21a and the plunger 19a can be removed by simply removing the screws 65a and 33a to thereby permit substitution of larger or smaller members. This permits the hooking needle 11a to be adapted for use with various yarn diameters and different length stitches. The longitudinal position of the plunger 19a relative to the shuttle 17a can be adjusted by loosening of the screw 33a.

Although exemplary embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, many changes, modifications and substitutions may be made by one having ordinary skill in the art without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A hooking needle comprising:

an elongated member;

a needle including a base, wall means cooperating with said base to define an open ended enclosure, and a partition dividing said open ended enclosure into a yarn receiving passage and a plunger receiving passage, said wall means defining a fabric pentrating portion with the yarn receiving passage extending through the fabric penetrating portion;

locator means on said elongated member and said base for orienting the needle relative to the elongated member in a preselected orientation;

means for releasably mounting the needle on the elongated member in said preselected orientation;

a shuttle mounted on the elongated member for reciprocating movement along the elongated member; an elongated plunger; and

means for mounting the plunger on the shuttle for reciproting movement therewith, said last mentioned means being releasable to permit adjustment of the longitudinal position of the plunger relative to the shuttle, said plunger being receivable in said plunger receiving passage.

2. A hooking needle as defined in claim 1 wherein said wall means includes generally opposed wall portions cooperating with said partition to define said plunger receiving passage, said plunger having lateral edges and said opposed wall portions lying closely adjacent said lateral edges, respectively, of said plunger and forming a guide therefor whereby the plunger is restrained against lateral movement relative to the needle during reciprocation of the plunger.

3. A hooking needle as defined in claim 1 wherein said locator means includes cooperating projections and recesses on said elongated member and said base to thereby orient the needle relative to the elongated member in said preselected orientation.

4. A hooking needle as defined in claim 1 wherein said locator means includes a pair of dowel elements on said base member and a pair of cooperating recesses in said elongated member for receiving said dowel members, respectively.

5. A hooking needle as defined in claim 1 wherein said shuttle includes a relatively short leg portion and a relatively long leg portion, said leg portions having apertures therein for slidably receiving the elongated member to thereby mount said shuttle for reciprocation on said elongated member, said leg portion being interconnected by a web portion and said relatively long leg portion being intermediate said needle and said relatively short leg portion, said hooking needle including a fiat wire hoop welded to said relatively long leg portion and projecting away from said relatively long leg portion on the side thereof opposite from said relatively short leg portion.

`6. A hooking needle as defined in clairn 1 including a stop formed integral with said elongated member for limiting the movement of said shuttle in a direction away from said needle.

7. A hooking needle as defined in claim 1 wherein said needle is constructed of stainless steel and at least the exterior of the fabric penetrating portion is highly polished.

8. A hooking needle as defined in claim 1 wherein said wall means has a pair of inwardly opening grooves for receiving the opposite longitudinal edges of said partition to thereby at least assist in mounting said partition on said wall means.

9. A hooking needle as defined in claim 5 wherein said locator means includes first and second dowels formed integrally with said base and first and second recesses in said elongated member for receiving said first and second dowels, respectively, said means for mounting said needle on said base including a screw intermediate said dowels, said partition being mounted on said wall means and being spaced from said base.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,605,711 11/1926 Garrett 112-80 1,941,346 12/1933 Garrett .-.s 112-80 JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner 

